Recent news reports that the NBA is proposing radical changes to the structure of its calendar, including reducing the number of games played in a season and introducing a new tournament during the regular season. While nothing is official yet, as the project must first receive approval from the players’ association and key television rights holders, commissioner Adam Silver has worked extensively in recent years on implementing changes that would shorten the long and grueling regular season and, most notably, introduce a completely new element to American sports: a second tournament.
This new competition is inspired by the national cup competitions in European football (e.g., Coppa Italia, FA Cup), and aims to provide the league with an opportunity to increase its television ratings throughout the season. Television ratings appear to be the primary driving force behind the change: last season saw a significant decline in viewership for marquee matchups, and this year the trend seems to be worsening (-18% compared to last season). Part of the drop is certainly due to the poor seasons of teams from major markets, like New York and Golden State, which aren’t generating interest, but it’s also important to consider that the length of the calendar and the relatively small significance of a single game in such a long season may be factors contributing to the ongoing decline in basketball viewership on TV over the past two years.
What the most famous basketball league in the world hopes to achieve with this mid-season tournament is to combat stagnation and repetition by innovating itself to respond to the needs of a rapidly evolving market. The presence of elimination games among the best teams of the current season, during a period of the American sports calendar when NFL playoffs have yet to begin and college football is not yet in its hottest phase, should generate viewership and sponsorships that benefit everyone, leading to an increase in viewership and revenue for the league.
Another key step in implementing this new tournament is the reaction from players. NBA stars have benefitted from significant salary increases due to the new television deal in 2016, which brought about a substantial rise in the Salary Cap. However, the high number of games and resulting injuries have always been a point of contention between the league and the players’ association. If the mid-season tournament fails to incentivize players to fully commit, the games might have an intensity only slightly higher than that of a regular season matchup, and therefore wouldn’t help the NBA achieve its goal of making the season calendar more appealing.
Adam Silver is, of course, aware that this is a historic proposal (no American league has ever offered anything other than the end-of-season title) and that it is a long-term investment, given that the significance of a tournament is inextricably tied to its tradition and longevity. The path seems set, and although many questions remain, the NBA once again demonstrates itself as one of the most innovative and flexible sports leagues in the world, always ready to make radical changes to its structure in order to make its product as interesting as possible and willing to be influenced by other sports worlds (in this case, European football) to improve.
BOCCONI STUDENTS FOR SPORT MANAGEMENT 
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